Casual conversion deadline approaches - get your ducks in a row
Posted on August 27, 2021
Time is running out for employers to ensure compliance with the casual law amendments before the deadline of 27 September 2021. Employers who employ casual employees and are not a small business are required to take action soon.
To recap, amendments were made to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) that changed the workplace entitlements and obligations for casual employees. These changes came into effect on 27 March 2021.
In summary the key changes were:
- a new definition of ‘casual employment’
- the introduction of a Casual Employment Information Statement
- new minimum entitlements under the NES for the offering and requesting of casual conversion to a permanent employee
- casual loading offset for entitlements
More detail on the changes can be found in our earlier article Casual Employment Rules Clarified.
How to comply with your obligations?
Casual Employment Information Statement
Employers must provide casual employees with a causal employment information statement before or as soon as practicable after the commencement of the employment. Small business employers were required to give their existing casual employees a copy of the statement as soon as possible after 27 March 2021. Employers (other than small business owners) have until 27 September 2021 to give their existing casual employees a copy of the statement as soon as possible after this date.
A copy of the Casual Employment Information Statement is located on the Fair Work website.
Casual conversion
Employers (other than small business owners) have until 27 September 2021 to assess whether any of their existing casual employees employed before 27 March 2021, meet the eligibility requirements and either provide casual conversion offers or a notice of a reasonable ground exemption. Employers must offer conversion to permanent employment if the employee meets the eligibility requirements and there are no reasonable grounds not to do so.
If you need assistance reviewing your casual employment arrangements to ensure compliance with the new amendments, please get in touch with our workplace relations team.
